Chuck Anderson, A Graphic Designer

Chuck Anderson is the type of designer that we all would like to be, fiercely talented and very successful. The best way to describe Chuck's work is to hear it from the man himself:

Energetic, explosive, and colorful...That's been my style lately. I really don't have a certain style, so I can't share with you a description. That's the whole 'no pattern' thing. Not being restrained or bound to a style. I like to tell people to just look at my work. It's not really classified into anything, really.

Shortly after completing high school at the age of 19 (2003) he began to professionally design. He built NoPattern.com and took on a couple small jobs (underbidding himself each time) and posted them on his site. Between the small jobs and the experimental stuff he was creating he started to develop an interesting style using light and color.

These pieces quickly caught the eye of some large clients (Absolute, Vans, and Mountain Dew) who were looking for something new and fresh. It quickly became a perfect marriage of client and artist and has snowballed ever since. You can see his work at NoPattern.com or buy his book, "Wandering Off Into Space".

Fan Made Thunder Cats Trailer

There's dedication and obsession, in this case the fella that made this video has a ton of obsession.

It took him over a year and a half to build this video. You'll recognize many of the scenes from various different movies. That's because he photoshoped every single frame to get the actors to look like the Thundercats. Thinks about it, the video is 2:30 minutes long and there are 24 frames in a second, that's just ridiculous!

As for the final product. If you can get over the Troy, XMen and Riddick references it's a great Thundercats trailer, well done and great work!

Taking It To A Whole New Level

Just about everyone has seen this movie, but if you haven't it takes the "behind the scenes" to a new level. What's funny about this is that in the film the character, who's white, acts like a black man and later has to act like a black man in a vietnamese disguise, make sense?

So usually at this time of year all the studios launch their Oscar hopefuls by marketing the hell out of them. Tropic Thunder isn't Oscar worthy at all, but in context of the film's story it's hilarious. I really don't think they could have designed it any better. I love the understated look, playing into that serious drama feel. Robert Downy Jn. looks as though he's about to let loose and cry a river. And then the brilliant line above. Very cool, smart and very understated. All to get the web talking and increase DVD sales, well done.

AIGA Charlotte: Debbie Millman, A Struggling Designer

What can you add to Debbie Millman that others haven't already said? She's the quintessential designer, full of passion, energy and wit. Type in her name and you'll immediately find her website, blog plus numerous articles and write ups about her. She's everywhere and anywhere. So what can I say that hasn't been said before?

Let me reflect on the meeting for a moment. AIGA Charlotte invited Debbie back to Charlotte to discuss her latest book, How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer. It's a series of conversations between Debbie and other famous designers that explore how they became who they are and what got them to this point. So last Thursday Debbie spoke her in Charlotte and she began to explain why she made the book. The genesis all came down to an interview some years ago where the journalist asked her what it feels like to be an overnight success. This really ticked her off since she had been doing the same thing for the last 25 years! She went on to explain all of her trials and tribulations of being a designer and how AIGA has been both friend and foe at different times in her life. Through it all it was the relationship she had between her fellow designers that got her though the tough times.

Now after listening to her speak I felt as though I had a connection to her. At the time I didn't know what it was. But after reflecting on it for awhile now I think I understand. The best way I can describe the core of what she spoke about was this. To love something so much and have to struggle each and every day to do it. The struggle she talked about comes from all sorts of different places. For some it's the clients; for others it's the budget or the lack of enthusiasm; maybe the inexperience; the lack of confidence; the misguided focus; the lack of communicating; and perhaps the feeling of being disregarded by our peers. All of these things can be overcome by having a dream and sticking to it. But a long the way we struggle to achieve it because of our own insecurities.

In Debbie's career she's reached a point and a volume of work that others can't deny and so she finally has what she wanted. But I've been doing this for 10 years now, 15 years less than Debbie Millman. I've some awards, though I've never been published and my peers think I'm a somewhat decent designer. But that's not good enough. I want to do inspiring work just like Debbie. Maybe I have to do this for 15 more years and go through a ton more crap before I get there. Perhaps I have to work with creatives like Debbie who will teach me how to live and breath creative better? Perhaps I'll never get there or maybe I will. That feeling of the unknown scares the crap out of me. And perhaps that's why Debbie and others like Stephan Sagmeister are talking to us all to provide a little inspiration to make it all worth it.

Or perhaps, just perhaps it's the struggle that makes the designer?

I wish I could find an example of what she talked about but it's not online. So the next best thing I could find is a video the AIGA just released. It's only hosted through their website so check it out here. It's a little something to get inspired.

Eerie: Moon

How else can you describe this poster? From what I understand the premise is about an astronaut stranded on the Moon for 3-years. After a while things go a little spooky when feelings of paranoia and solitude start to kick in.

The poster reminds me of Alien, which also used a theme of the unknown and loneliness. I also like the fact that the story is all about one guy to which the poster displays perfectly. I'm glad they didn't turn Sam Rockwell into a "big head" because so much more can be told through a poster when it focuses on emotions rather than who's in it.

It's a good beginning, I want to see more.

MODE's Top 10 Methods

I'm a little late with this entry since I saw them over a week ago. But the presentation made by John and Tyler, two of the principles at Mode was so good it's worth mentioning, although a little late.

The definition of Mode is: how something is done or how it happens.

It's a very fitting name for them since that appears to be there company motto, to figure out how it's done and to apply it to others. Mode is an interactive firm ran by a group of designers and developers. As quoted from their website "…with the purpose of creating conversations between clients and their audience." The guys moved down from Boston about 3 or 4 years ago to start a fresh and decided that Charlotte was the ideal city for them and they have been growing ever since.

So the Charlotte AIGA does a series on "TOP 10 Trends and Tips" and recognized that they would be perfect for this. Which brings us back to the night I mentioned earlier where they gave us a presentation on Interactive Media Tips and Trends. This is what the AIGA had to say by it.

There has been a shift in thinking and approach in the design and technology fields to a more holistic viewpoint of the way users interact with brands through visual, mobile, and social media. Learn techniques, trends and business approaches of the interactive movement from the partners of Charlotte-based branding and interactive studio Mode Through their own backgrounds, Mode partners John Pietrafesa (Creative Director) and Tyler Hawes (Interactive Director) personify the integration, trials and triumphs of design and technology, as they steer both their team and clients toward the goal of brand interactivity.

I wish I could remember all of what they said because it was a lot. But they were kind enough to send us all the presentation (click here) which basically used cool websites to anchor each topic. I chose 10 of my favorite examples below to give you an idea.

1. Intro: youtube.com
2. Don't forget the design Basics: jasonsantamaria.com
3. Grid Structures: shopcomposition.com
4. Interactive is more than a website


5. Interfaces Are Evolving: microsoft.com/surface/
6. Engage All Senses: demo.fb.se/e/ikea
7. User Organised/Personalized:
msnbcmedia.msn.com
8. It's Not Static: dopplr.com
9. Interacting With Your Enviroment:
youtube.com
10. It's all about Human Interaction: youtube.com

If you've had a chance to visit all of these wonderful links you'll see 3 very basic messages using incredibly cool examples.

1. Designers and creatives need to work more cohesively to create online tools that are smart and eye catching.
2. This medium is constantly evolving and getting better because these same designers and developers are working better and better together.
3. Because of them anything is becoming possible and they create the trends.

Overall it was a very entertaining evening and I can't thank Mode and all at the Charlotte AIGA people enough for putting up such a splendid night for us all. Personally I hope to learn more about Mode in the future.

Posters Will Never Be The Same

A movie poster is a simple thing. But over the years studios have tried hard to make their's stand out above all the rest. You've probably noticed this when you go to a theater and you've seen the large oversized 3-dimentional poster stands of Wall-E or the next big blockbuster. I have to say they are fun and to be honest most movie theaters are fairly bland anyway so they can use the help. But now with the modern age of the web these same movie posters (and movie trailers) are making it online first and just like theaters they are having to do something different.

If you watch the web much you'll have followed the viral campaigns of Batman or Wonder Woman. You'll see that the studios are trying to get as much of a bang for there buck as possible because views or website hits can become major dollars. So a simple unveiling of a poster online just doesn't quite cut it anymore. These days a movie posters might get an honorable mention or a quick post but that's about it. Because of the viral sites or perhaps because there are now so many posters being unveiled online we are on information overload and so a movie poster has to be different.

Well take a look below (reload the page to see it from the beginning). Just the other day a "motion poster" came out for the new Terminator movie and it's taken a very different approach. I'm starting to wonder why they didn't do this before, it's both very exciting and different. I think this is just the beginning and I imagine we'll see more of this approach in the coming year.

From This Day Forward

Nicole and I are creative people. We do things differently than most and always try to have a little fun it. After I proposed to my beautiful wife (whom I love so MUCH!)… Nicole, one of our first questions was how are we going to do the invitation?

Invitation: We both agreed that we didn't want to do the typical ornate card. We wanted something a little bolder. In January we had gone to Savannah, GA for Nicole's Birthday with our friends Toni and Hall. We had such a wonderful time there and thought that getting married in a square would make for a beautiful and romantic location. With the location picked we began to get our ducks in a row.

We realized that because we were only inviting a hand full of guests we could make the invitation personal and special. While Toni was visiting us Nicole mentioned the infamous book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We all agreed that nobody has ever received a book as an invitation before and that would add the personal touch of Savannah. Neither of us liked the name so it was retitled, "From This Day Forward" and used our favorite photo from our trip in January.



It was cool because we just changed out the dust-jacket with all the official Wedding information and the guests could then read the book to get an idea as to what Savannah is all about. To include all the extra information about traveling, lodging and the schedule we came up with a book mark. Once we had all the pieces we just wrapped it in craft paper and illustrated it with a gold pen.

Thank You Card: The Wedding day was everything you want it to be, full of happy moments and great memories. We wanted to carry on the personal touch so we wrote a book review of our Wedding/Book "From This Day Forward" with some of the highlights, see below.

"I Need an Ad" – Prutech

This was one of those unexpected "I need an Ad right Now!" calls you get occasionally. The company had purchased AD space but didn't have an Ad! So I sat down and tried to think of all the ways IT effects our lives. I have to say that I like the lines, I'm not a writer, but when I need to, I can usually put something descent together.

Bocce From A Different Angle

Bocce is an age old game that's been around forever. The premise is simple, get your ball as close to the white one as possible.

I was asked to design a logo for a Bocce that embodied that feeling. So I did some Bocce research and found that every logo has a Bocce ball in the "o". This seemed to obvious, but that was the case with every Bocce website I went too. I felt the logo could be something more. After looking at the name some more it occurred to me that by turning the "B" and positioning the "o" it made three Bocce balls like you would see on a Bocce ball lane.

With a lot of playing the above is the logo. But as you can imagine, they didn't go with it and instead wanted the Bocce ball in the "o".

A Little Gem of and Idea

I had just come back from the HOW conference and the first thing I was given to do was this AD for Bluff Magazine. While I was gone the Marketing Dept. had been brainstorming ideas. They were all fairly descent, but obvious. One stood out though and it was "You + 7 Buddies + HUC = One Hell Of a Poker Night".

Now maybe it was seeing all the cool stuff at the conference that led me to come up with the idea there and then, I don't know, but this one seemed right. I know this is a "1+1=2" approach that's typically not very smart. But what I liked was that the Heads-Up Challenge table is an unknown, which makes it complicated. So this approach actually fits. New products scare people because we all like what we are used too.

I took the line and designed it to be fun and simple. I also designed the layout to point towards the table. I think all layouts need a flow, whether by using type or white space to direct the reader to your objective. That way the reader understands what it is in seconds, versus a minute. We all know how fleeting a readers eye is.

What also helped was the use of color. The gold flat tone helped the table kick off the page as well as stand out from all the other poker ads that are usually dark in tone.

This is one of those occasions where had I chosen the headline they wanted me to use it probably would of turned out like usual. In talking with my colleagues and digging a little more I was able to find a little gem of an idea and do something a little different.

What's Under The Mask?

Billboards are a cool medium when you can do something fun and daring with it. Then when you have a client that also wants that, the hard part is over. That was the case with this. Trevor Baker, a long time friend and coworker brought the project to me with an idea of a mask covering the billboard that slowly revealing itself.



The idea was so simple I mocked it up and the client approved it immediately. The next step was to actually make it look real. We looked into an actual vinyl mask, but we quickly realized that the elements and reality would make it difficult to choreograph it correctly. So in camera was the prudent approach.


What you see is the end result. The client has had an overwhelming amount of attention and it has placed their Neurosurgery ahead of the pack.